We explain what faith is, in what areas it exists, its importance and characteristics. Also, what are the Christian faith and the Buddhist faith.
What is faith?
When we talk about faith, we usually mean a form of belief or trust in a person, thing, deity, doctrine, or explanation which is maintained without any need for evidence in its favor. That is, we have faith in what we choose to believe above the possibility (or impossibility) of proving its existence.
The word faith comes from Latin fidesthat is, “loyalty” or “trust”, and was the name given to the goddess of trust, daughter of Saturn and Virtus, in Roman mythology. In the temple of the goddess, the state treaties of the Roman Senate with foreign nations were kept, so that the goddess would ensure their mutual respect and compliance.
Therefore, The main meaning of the term today is linked to religious belief although this is not so much a legacy of Roman mythology, but rather of Christian doctrine, which for centuries established faith in God, that is, blind belief in God, without questioning and without doubt, as the maximum value of a good Christian.
This is a trait shared by all monotheisms: exclusive loyalty to their God, the only one, the true one. This is why religious wars have been so common throughout history.
The concept of faith, however, It also applies to worldly matters, as an approximate synonym for trust. We can have faith in someone, when we blindly trust in them, or in their abilities to solve a problem or achieve success in a specific matter.
For example, we can have faith in our doctor or in the medicines he prescribes, or even in the explanations that science gives us regarding reality. However, in this case, scientific thought does not at any time ask us to grant it our faith, but rather provides us with empirical and corroborable demonstrations of its hypotheses. That is, he offers us explanations and evidence, instead of simply asking us to believe him.
At the same time, the word faith It is used to name the set of beliefs that make up the doctrine of a religion (the Catholic faith, the Muslim faith, etc.), and certain documents that serve as support, that is, that support -paradoxically- our faith in what they contain (faith of baptism, faith of life, faith of singleness, etc.). ).
In some countries, they even talk about “attest to something” to say that one believes in it, or that one has evidence of it or that one is convinced of it, therefore serving as a witness, guarantor or guarantor.
See also: Dogma
Characteristics of faith
In general, the concept of faith is characterized by:
- Implies blind belief or trust without doubts, without requiring tests, demonstrations or verifications.
- This is a concept far from skepticism and, sometimes, also far from reason, when what one has faith in is not questioned, but rather clings to it for subjective reasons.
- There is no single model of faith nor is faith incompatible with other value systems, such as the scientific one. For example, it is not a requirement to lack religious faith to be able to do science, but it is a requirement not to resort to faith instead of using the scientific method. In the contemporary world, religious faith is an intimate, personal matter.
- Sometimes can be synonymous with “hope” as in the case of believers who, in a situation of need or danger, cling to the conviction that God will provide them with salvation.
Importance of faith
Faith can be important in different aspects of daily life. For parishioners of any religion, It is part of the fundamental beliefs that organize your experience of reality especially in the moral and existential aspects. That is why losing faith can lead to a period of suffering and deep questions about the meaning of life.
At the same time, faith in a cosmic order and in a guardian entity can give people more confidence when doing things and a certain feeling of well-being and protection.
On the other hand, faith may be an important component in certain medical treatments to the extent that the patient's general mood and predisposition have proven psychosomatic effects on the functioning of the body.
For example, mentally depressed people have less active defenses and respond more poorly to treatments than people with stable moods. In that sense, faith (religious or not) can help treatment.
Christian faith
According to Christian doctrine, faith is a theological virtue, that is, one of the habits that God himself instills in the mind of human beings to lead them on the right path. That is, the Christian faith is not passive, but organizes life morally and ethically, according to the ideals and teachings of his prophet Jesus of Nazareth (c. 4 BC-c. 33 AD).
Christian doctrine inherits the concept of faith from the Old Testament, which is that of the Abrahamic tradition of the ancient Jewish prophets. In that sense, consists of the belief that God promised humanity a savior a messiah who would come to lead them to paradise lost, separating the just from the unjust, the faithful from the unfaithful.
However, the Christian New Testament proposes that Jesus Christ renewed the pact between God and humanity, sacrificing himself for it, but that he will return in the future to undertake the judgment of souls and grant punishment (hell) or redemption (paradise).
The Christian faith, in principle, is understood as a voluntary act that cannot be imposed on anyone, since it is within each person where it occurs. This is how Saint Augustine states it (354-430): “credere non potest nisi volens” (“you can't believe if you don't want to”).
That is why Jesus Christ, according to tradition, never forced anyone to follow him, something that the Catholic Church did during centuries of Inquisition and holy wars against other equally intolerant monotheisms, such as Islam.
Buddhist faith
Unlike Christianity and its sister monotheisms, The Buddhist tradition does not require blind and absolute faith from its followers, possibly because Gautama Buddha is not perceived as a deity, nor as a prophet, but as the discoverer of a method for personal enlightenment (bodhi).
In this way, Buddhism demands faith in the method, that is, in the spiritual teachings (dharma) and in the community of followers (sangha) of Buddha, who plays a role as a teacher, as a guide towards the awakening of consciousness.
The particular faith of Buddhism, thus, does not propose blind adherence to a code, but rather invites his followers to experience and investigate the teachings personally based on what has been learned and accepted. Texts like the Kalama SutraIn fact, they promote a rather anti-authoritarian attitude in their followers.
Continue with: Polytheism
References
- “Faith” on Wikipedia.
- “Faith” in the Dictionary of the Language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “The Five Aspects of the Christian Faith” in Bible in One Year.
- “Question: What is the role of faith (and how does Buddhism define faith) in difficult times?” by Matthiew Ricard.
- “Faith” in Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.
- “Faith (religion)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
